Florida Democrats' Tale of Woe Is Etched in the Election's Numbers

The 2018 midterm elections in Florida pretty much had everything a political junkie could want. Here are some of the numbers from Tuesday’s unofficial results:

62.13: The percentage of voters who went to the polls. For those of you keeping score at home, that equates to 8.25 million voters out of nearly 13.28 people who were registered to cast ballots.

77.68: The turnout percentage in Sumter County, the highest in the state. No wonder Republican politicians head to Sumter County every two years to woo voters in The Villages retirement community. GOP gubernatorial candidate Ron DeSantis, for example, received nearly 70 percent of the vote in Sumter.

56.89 and 57.37: The turnout percentages in Miami-Dade and Broward counties, respectively. For Democratic gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum, those number might have sealed his loss Tuesday. Southeast Florida is long where Democrats have gone to pile up margins.

54: The number of counties won by DeSantis and Republican U.S. Senate candidate Rick Scott. Yes, from Escambia to Monroe, they won the same counties.

13: The number of counties won by Gillum and Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Bill Nelson, including all of the large urban counties --- Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach, Orange, Hillsborough, Pinellas and Duval. The others carried by the Democrats were Alachua, Gadsden, Leon, Osceola, Seminole and St. Lucie.

4: The number of counties that Republican President Donald Trump won in 2016 that went to Gillum and Nelson this year. Those four were Duval, Pinellas, Seminole and St. Lucie.

11: The number of constitutional amendments approved by voters. From restoring the rights of felons who have served their sentences to banning greyhound racing, voters were on board with the ballot proposals. The outcome was a victory for the state Constitution Revision Commission, which got seven of its proposals approved.

58.09: The percentage of votes received by Amendment 1, the only ballot proposal that failed to reach the required 60 percent threshold to pass Tuesday. Amendment 1 would have provided a larger homestead property-tax exemption to many Floridians.

0: The number of statewide offices that Democrats will hold if Nelson and agriculture-commissioner candidate Nikki Fried do not prevail in recounts. Nelson has been the lone Democratic statewide office-holder since former Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink ran unsuccessfully for governor in 2010.

Comments

Promises made - Promises KEPT" - The house will damage the rate of Trump progress, but there is still a LOT more that he can get done. Pray that a portion of the Socialist Millennials will LEARN that making America greatER is more important than trying to take care of the entire Planet...

One thing is for sure. Florida is a microcosm of the rest of the country that is clearly divided. In probably, the closest race for Gov., and US Senator in Florida history, there is clearly change brewing in this state and country. I don't believe FL was ready for the extreme change that Gillum was espousing. That, coupled with the baggage he brought, I think was too much to overcome in this deep Red state. It is clear there was a blue wave nationwide, with the House falling by record numbers for the Dems. There will be no wall with the Dems in control of the House. There will be no radical immigration plan, and the future of the Presidency will be determined by Mueller and the House. One thing is for sure, in this divided state and country, the next Presidential election is sure to be a hoot. A lot of that will depend on if the Dems pick the right candidate to challenge Trump, something they clearly did not do in Florida... Stay tuned, it is sure going to be interesting and fun...

No Democratic "tale of woe". The Democrats potentially gained up to 44 seats in the U.S. House; about 350 seats in various statehouses; about 7 or 8 governorships; and converted 6 or 7 statehouses from Republican majority to Democratic majority. In reality, the biggest Democratic mid-term election win overall since Nixon's resignation. The U.S. House win puts an end to Trump's and McConnell's agenda and gives the Dems the opportunity to investigate Trump and the corruption within his administration to the nth degree. But, those who live in Florida likely wouldn't even know or sense all of this. In Florida, the Republicans and the Trumpnuts have normalized the grossly abnormal ... but only barely in several instances. Changing demographics will ultimately get this state back to normal.

Recount is automatic if .5 or less difference by State statue..
Reality is Dems have no one to blame but themselves as voter turnout in South East Counties did not measure up to the turnout in deep red areas of the state.
Folks like in 2016 believed the pols and thought their got didn't matter..too lazy to get off their phones and vote..they will suffer the consequences of their unwillingness to vote as DeSantis takes a meat cleaver to programs and creams money from public schools..as Supreme court turns deep red.. As we have all discovered Elections DO have consequences.. Rallies are great.. Republicans went to the Rally then to the polls..Dems in Palm Beach..Broward..and Miami Dade..not so much..

Well, don't worry/sarc... Benda Snipes in Broward is still way behind meeting her statutory vote-counting requirements (mail-is, provisionals, military, etc) as Broward Supe of Elections, as is Susan Bucher of Palm Beach, and is still "finding" uncounted ballots to give the governorship and Senator to the Dims. Our cowardly RINO Sec of State wil probably allow this, as he did all the very obvious bote fraud in November 2012.

You might want to check the Florida Secretary of State's website insofar as the governor's race is concerned. As of the morning of November 8th, there is only a .52 percentage point difference between Ron De Santis and Andrew Gillum. Not all of the returns are in yet. This election has not yet been certified. It will take only 859 additional votes statewide for Andrew Gillum to put this race into automatic recount territory. This is a distinct possibility.